Program Book 2017

Dear friends, dear supporters,

2017 has been, to put it mildly, a complicated year. Minorities are fodder for some to gain political traction, which is unfortunate, but reflective of prevailing attitudes we have historically faced. This is more alarming for us as migrants, people of color, trans*, refugees and dis/abled people within the Queer* spectrum, as we lie at unique crossroads of being minorities within a minority.

As such, TRANSITION is a breakaway from mainstream gay & lesbian cinema that has categorically ignored and arguably even worse, tokenized Queer* minorities. Unable to find ourselves reflected on screen, TRANSITION was born to create disruption: to show that our reality is much richer, multi-layered and that we speak for our own narratives.

When we held the first edition in 2012, we were exploring uncharted territory, and unknowingly, became the first Queer film event in Europe with a minorities focus, inspiring the birth of identical events internationally. We take much pride in the distance we have covered and look forward to building on this, despite challenges with time, space and funding.

TRANSITION 2017 brings you lms from the Inuit community in the Canadian Arctic to powerful women* defying the Taliban in Pakistan, from lms by queer refugees in Austria to the history of gay life right before the fall of the Berlin Wall, this year’s program is a concise mish-mash of lms that are a reflection of our current socio-political situation.

As we begin this walk into this period of uncertainty, it becomes ever more important for us to build community, support each other and love generously. We ask those with privilege to stand next to those who don’t, and be our allies.